The national training organisation for employment has published national occupational standards in managing work-related violence.
The standards cover assessing the risk of violence to staff; developing and implementing a policy and procedures for minimising the risk; promoting a ?safe and positive? working environment; responding to work-related violent incidents; supporting those who suffer a violent incident at work; and investigating incidents. The standards can act as a basis for training programmes, a tool in accrediting training programmes, and units to import into other NVQ qualifications, the Employment NTO says. Chairman of the technical working group behind the standards was Ian N Fowler of the Scottish Business Crime Centre; members included consultant Bill Fox of Maybo; and Nick Metcalfe, of Group 4 Custodial Services. For details write to Employment NTO, Kimberley House, 47 Vaughan Way, Leicester LE1 4SG.
London conference
The Institute of Conflict Management is running a conference on work-related violence and national occupational standards. Among the speakers at the September 20 event at the London Voluntary Resource Centre, Holloway Road, north London, are Bill Fox of Maybo and Phil Hardy, chairman of the ICM. For details ring 0116 264 0083 or visit www.conflictmanagement.org
Background
The standards were developed with the Health & Safety Executive. The HSE’s definition of work-related violence is: “any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work”. This covers physical assaults, plus verbal abuse and threats. It includes work-related assaults and threats from members of the public, fellow employees, contractors, managers and others. HSE’s 1995 study of self-reported working conditions (SWI 95) included questions on whether people had been physically attacked in their current job. Six per cent of men and eight per cent of women (a total of about 1.4 million people) reported being physically attacked by a member of the public (such as client, patient, customer). Half of them had been attacked between one and four times in the previous year and a further 10 per cent had been attacked at least five times. A retrospective analysis of the British Crime Survey, published jointly by HSE and the Home Office in October 1999 showed 1.2 million incidents of physical assaults and threats at work in 1997. A further report in July 2001 showed a slight increase to 1.3 million incidents in 2000.
High risk
High risk sectors of employment, the Employment NTO says, include police and security services, public transport, health and social services, retail, licensed premises and local and national government services which involve direct contact with the public. The self-employed and employees of small businesses are also particularly at risk. The main causes of work-related violence include: preventing other crime (such as theft) and disorder; failing to provide a service to the standard expected or demanded by the public. It is also associated with poor job design and working environments; lack of training and information for staff; and jobs which involve dealing with people with psychological problems or affected by alcohol. More recent evidence from the British Crime Survey suggests that the provision of training to help staff deal with violence at work varies considerably, the Employment NTO adds. It would appear that many staff in high risk occupations do not receive formal training or even informal advice on the prevention or management of work-related violence. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places a legal duty on all employers to ensure – so far as is reasonably practicable – the health, safety and welfare of their employees. This duty extends to ensuring employees’ health and safety from violence at work. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess the risks to their employees, decide what to do to prevent or control the risks; and then provide clear management structures to achieve this. The risks covered should include the protection of employees from exposure to reasonably foreseeable violence.
